The company is providing exclusive insights into ongoing research activities aimed at automotive progress far beyond the current period of transformation
Mercedes recently announced its pioneering innovations and future technologies including solar paint to break free from the daily EV charging practice. The German carmaker offered a glimpse into the future of mobility. This includes things like Vision of Future Cities, Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (XR) for Customer Experience, Neuromorphic Computing for Autonomous Driving, Innovative Materials Using Biotechnology for Less Environmental Impact, High-Voltage Architecture and Solar Paintwork.
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Mercedes Working On Solar Paint To Eliminate Daily EV Charging
The German luxury car marque shared the specifics of this unique technology. A wafer-thin, 5 micrometer, layer of paste can be seamlessly applied to the bodywork of EVs to act as solar modules. This layer weighs just 50 grams per square meter. The active photovoltaic surface can be applied to any substrate. The solar cells have a high efficiency of 20%. An area of 118.4 square feet (equivalent to the surface of a mid-size SUV) could produce energy for up to 7,456 miles (12,000 km) per year under ideal conditions.
This energy can either feed the electric motor or get stored in the high-voltage battery. The photovoltaic system is permanently active and also generates energy when the vehicle is off. The amount of energy produced depends on levels of shade, intensity of the sun and geographical location. In a cloudy city like Stuttgart, Germany, car owners drive an average of 32 miles per day. Mercedes claims that 62% of this distance would be covered using solar energy. On the other hand, in a place like LA, USA, this paint could produce enough energy for 100% solar driving with additional energy that could feed the home network via bidirectional charging. This amounts to 12,427 miles (20,000 km) per year.
Solar paint has a high level of efficiency and contains no rare earths or silicon. Instead, it uses only non-toxic, readily available raw materials. These are easy to recycle and considerably cheaper to produce than conventional solar modules. The Mercedes-Benz research department is currently working to enable the use of the new solar paint on all exterior vehicle surfaces – regardless of shape or angle.
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Learn Electric Cars Says
Since we are still at a relatively nascent stage of innovation in electric mobility, I am certain that the coming years will bring unfathomable levels of innovations and technology. Interestingly, the new tech will revolutionalize just about every aspect of an EV including battery, electric motor, architecture, in-drive brakes, autonomous driving, connectivity and more. We shall keep an eye out for more details in this regard.